Emergency call system using specific mobile user information

ABSTRACT

The present invention presents a method for creating a relation between mobiles and a vehicle of a wireless communications network. The vehicle is equipped with an on-board device with wireless communication capability. The present invention also presents an on-board device and a road user server to be used in such wireless communications network. Mobiles in the vehicle are triggered to report their location to the network. When the vehicle reports its location an association between the vehicle and the mobiles having same location information is performed. The triggering signal is sent on control channels triggering all mobiles, including mobiles in idle mode. Profiles of mobile users in a vehicle, based on location information and mobile identities, are retrieved and stored in lists which are forwarded to fore example hospitals and fire departments when an accident occurs.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates in general to a wireless communicationssystem and more particularly to a method for creating a relation betweenmobiles and a vehicle in such a system.

BACKGROUND

There are several occasions where locating unknown mobile phones in idlemode are of very high interest. One particular example is in emergenciesand accidents where the locations of mobile phones in an accident areaare of interest of two main reasons: the first is to get an approximateunderstanding of how many persons that are involved in the accident; thesecond is to learn who they are. Even if one can not be sure that theperson registered on a mobile phone subscription is the one currentlywearing it, most likely it is so, and especially people with specialhealth conditions who has been encouraged to wear their phones, willlikely keep track of there mobiles. A problem with finding mobile phonesin idle mode is however that common positioning procedure requires thephone number of the mobile to position to be known.

Location based services has become a well known concept. In addition tothe commercial services, the governments in several countries have alsoput requirements on the network operators to be able to determine theposition of an emergency call. For instance, the governmentalrequirements in USA (FCC E911) require that it must be possible todetermine the position of a certain percentage of all emergency calls.

A general problem with most prior art emergency call systems is thatpositioning in general requires extensive control signalling. Suchcontrol signalling requires relative large efforts from a system,occupying communication and computational resources. Global PositioningSystem (GPS) is a technique often used for determining a location ofairplanes, boats, busses mobiles etc. There are also some existingsystems using GPS implemented in mobiles or vehicles for locating themobiles or the vehicles upon an emergency call. Also other techniquesrequiring additional device equipments are known. Solutions fordecreasing signalling and simplifying the positioning procedure havetherefore recently been developed and are described below.

There are some solutions relating to on-board telemetric components forheavy vehicles (busses and trucks) but non of them addresses a solutioncontaining equipment reporting information about passengers in thevehicle.

In the published patent application PCT/SE2004/001328, publicationnumber WO2005/032202, there is described a method for estimating theposition of mobile terminals with improved accuracy and limitedinvestments in additional equipment. According to the method additionalcontrol signals comprising virtual base station identification data aredistributed in the radio system from well defined locations. There is aconnection between each virtual base station identification data and thelocation from where it is transmitted, and a mobile terminal can use theinformation for improving its position estimation according toconventional procedures. Since the virtual base station identificationdata is provided in the same format as normal base stationidentification data, no modifications at all of the mobile terminals arenecessary. However, the mobile terminal is not able to connect to thecommunications system using a cell associated with the virtual basestation identification data, since this data only is intended forposition estimating purposes. In such a way, the devices for providingthe additional information necessary for the improved positionestimation can be made very simple and inexpensive.

Similar solutions are also described in patent applicationsPCT/SE2004/01345 with publication number WO2005/039214, andPCT/SE2005/001003 with publication number WO2006/009497.

In patent application PCT/SE2005/001257, publication numberWO2006/033607, there is described a cellular communications networkwhere text messages that are unique for a certain group of basestations, at each instant, are broadcast to mobile terminals. The mobileterminals include the text message or a text derived based on at leastthe text message as a part of a position dependent service request datapacket. The data packet is sent to a service provider. The included textis interpreted, e.g. in the communications system or in the serviceprovider, as a position or location associated with the base stationgroup that broadcast the text message. The position dependent service isthen provided based on the interpreted position or location.

In most cellular systems, it is possible to broadcast messages to allterminals within a cell. This is a message sent by the base stationsituated in the top of the present neighbour list. This message istypically broadcasted in a similar way as the control signals that areused by the terminals to tune in to a certain base station. However,this broadcast signal transmits a message, typically a text message(SMS) that all terminals in the cell can receive. It is in other wordspossible to send out information locally to the particular cell, or anumber of cells if several cells send the same message, to all terminalsin that cell.

WO2006/033607 presents a solution where the location of a mobileterminal can be determined to the accuracy of the cell a mobile phone iscamping on. That is the area covered by the cell the mobile phone isattached to. The base station which the mobile phone is being attachedto, can send a broadcast text message (e.g SMS-Broadcast) set by networkcontrol and messaging nodes in the network. By making this messageunique to the radio cell, an application fetching this message can, byusing a mapping table, translate the message to a geographical area.This can be done in the mobile phone, which can then be in idle modesince the broadcasted message is received also in idle mode. If themapping is not done in the mobile phone, it can also be done in thenetwork. In this case the mobile phone must send the received message toa mapping server in the network over the user plane, e.g. GPRS. Thenetwork then returns the geographical location.

Non of the above mentioned systems describes a common simple availablesolution for estimating the number of persons bound to an emergency callarea and at the same procedure identifying who they are and locatingthem in a fast and low capacity requiring matter.

SUMMARY

An object of an embodiment of the present invention is to provide asolution for how to get indications of how many people are involved inan accident, and possibly also who they are, without the personsthemselves doing anything actively.

An advantage of the present invention is to provide a simple solutionwhich does not require additional equipments, that is fast to implementand that does not require large signalling efforts.

In another embodiment of the invention there is described a method forcreating a relation between mobiles and a vehicle, determining alocation of the vehicle and using the identification numbers of mobilesto retrieve passenger identification information.

Another embodiment of the present invention comprises an emergencyreporting method for reporting vehicle accidents wherein the reportsincludes information about the passengers in the vehicle.

It is another object of an embodiment of the present invention topresent a method for detecting mobiles in idle mode by sending messagesusing the existing control channels.

It is an object of an embodiment of the present invention to present amethod for creating a relation between mobiles and a vehicle of awireless communications network. The vehicle is equipped with anon-board device with wireless communication capability. According to themethod, messages are broadcasted in the vehicle to all mobiles withinthe vehicle. The messages include vehicle identity information orinformation which can be used together with other information to get aunique identity of the vehicle. A signal triggering all mobiles in thevehicle to transmit location area update messages, and/or re-register tonetwork messages, is sent to a network node. The mobiles sends firstmeasurement reports to the network node, the reports includingbroadcasted messages or information based on the broadcasted messages.The on-board device sends second measurement reports from the on-boarddevice to a road user server, the reports including information used tocorrelate the first measurement reports received from the network nodewith the vehicle.

It is another object of an embodiment of the present invention topresent a device in a wireless communications network, wherein thedevice is intended to be used on-board a vehicle. The device is equippedwith wireless communication capability used to access and communicatewith the wireless communications network. A first transmitter, in thedevice, is used for broadcasting messages including vehicle identityinformation or information which can be used together with otherinformation to get a unique identity of the vehicle. The messages sentin the vehicle are limited to reach within the vehicle only. A secondtransmitter, in the device, is used for sending signals to all mobileswithin the vehicle triggering all mobiles to send location area updatemessages and/or re-register to network messages. The signals include thebroadcasted information and are sent to a mobility managementcontroller, e.g. serving mobile centre. The device also comprises atransceiver used to send measurement reports to a road user server. Thereports include information to be used by the road user server in acorrelating procedure performed for determining which mobiles areconsidered to be within the vehicle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a signal diagram illustrating embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart according to an embodiment of the presentinvention illustrating the information correlation method.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an on-board device in accordanceto an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a server according to anembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, for purposes of explanation and notlimitation, specific details are set forth, such as particulartechniques and applications in order to provide a thorough understandingof the present invention. However, it will be apparent to one skilled inthe art that the present invention may be practiced in other embodimentsthat depart from these specific details. In other instances, detaileddescriptions of well-known methods and apparatuses are omitted so as notto obscure the description of the present invention with unnecessarydetails.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment according to the inventionillustrating a network and nodes for performing emergency calls and forassociating mobiles with a vehicle location. The wireless communicationsnetwork 1 (WCN) is disclosed including only the necessary nodes forunderstanding the invention and several nodes without critical or uniquefunctionality for performing the present invention are not shown.Signalling between nodes in the WCN 1 is handled by intermediate nodes,gateways and sub-systems. The WCN 1 includes an operator network (ON) 2connected to a public safety system (PSS) 3, via at least anintermediate node, which in this case is the Road User Server (RUS) 6.The RUS 6 is a single node or one or more distributed functions amongnodes in the WCN 1. The RUS 6 is located in the operator network 2and/or in the PSS 3, or distributed among the ON and the PSS. The RUS 6is responsible for hosting information about the positions of a vehicle9 and user devices 11, or information needed to determine the positionsof the vehicle 9 and the user devices 11, when a look-up procedure istriggered. An Emergency Central 5 (EC) is included as part of the PSS 3.The Emergency Central 5 is responsible for coordinating dispatches etc.The PSS 3 is also connected to a hospital IT system (HITS) 4, whichincludes information like electronically journals, IT medicinecapabilities, emergency vehicle location/capabilities etc. A MobilityManagement Controller 7 (MMC), in the operator network 2, such as a BaseStation Controller (BSC) or a Radio Network Controller (RNC), isconstantly, intermittently, periodically and/or event triggered updatedwith user device 11 location. The MMC 7 receives information from theuser devices 11 via one or more base stations 8. The vehicles 9 on-boarddevice (O-B-D) 10 communicates using a WCN 1, e.g. a cellular network ora radio network. The RUS 6 is typically located in a domain connected tothe internet, core network. The on-board device 10 populates the RoadUser Server 6 with information over a data session. Such information isperson IDs, vehicle ID, sensor registrations, camera pictures etc. Incase an emergency call is triggered, e.g. from the on-board device 10,the emergency call will then either include an A number, that is theidentity of the on-board device used for fetching a list with persons inthe vehicle, or the emergency call will include the same list. The listincluded in the emergency call is received by querying the RUS 6identifying the vehicle 9, based on a registration number.

There are multiple ways in determining the number of persons in avehicle involved in an accident. Following are two principles describefor when and how this is done:

1. A report is sent from the vehicle when an accident happens.

-   -   A server in the network composes in advance a table of how many        peoples, user devices, that are in the vehicle and, if possible,        who they are. If an accident happens, an automatic emergency        call refers to this table.

2. Reporting the number of persons and who they are, is done by anon-board device, e.g. on-board device. The O-B-D has collectedinformation in advance about mobile users and how many mobile users arein the vehicle.

-   -   Each person in the vehicle has a user device which reports that        the holder of the device is located in the vehicle.    -   A central unit collects information of who are in the vehicle,        and reports this when an accident happens.

There are also different alternative solutions of how to implement thedifferent principles mentioned above. A few alternatives how to dopairing of person and vehicle is now presented:

-   -   Using the mobile phone and standard GSM signalling/positioning.        When using GSM signalling the user device must be triggered to        go from idle mode into dedicated mode and send a report to the        network including information which can be used to associate the        user device with a certain vehicle.    -   Using a short range radio (or other short distance communication        bearer), e.g. Bluetooth and on board registering means. A short        range radio solution requires that passengers must perform some        form of reporting using this short range radio connection to a        master unit for registering them selves or connecting to the        network. The reporting is performed upon a triggering event,        opening doors, turning on the vehicle etc. starting a register        request procedure. Such a register request procedure is the        on-board device sending an audio message for example a “register        to local network”-message.    -   Using sensors in a vehicle for sensing the number of persons in        the car. The sensors are placed in doors, seats, seatbelts etc.        A sensor alternative does not require any additional devises        except an on board device mounted in a car, but does instead        require a number of sensors and will also make it more difficult        to find out who are in a vehicle.

When an accident occurs, the on-board device in the vehicle willautomatically perform an emergency call to an emergency centre reportingthat there has been an accident and also send its location to thecentre. Equipment necessary to do this will be installed in all new carsand all trucks and busses in Europe and likely in other markets as well.

According to an embodiment of the present invention there is providedmeans for locating a standard GSM/WCDMA phone without any specialapplication or configuration, having an accuracy down to a couple ofmeters. This is far less than the area covered by a regular radio cell.Positioning of mobile phones is performed using control signals, andstandard radio network control signalling and procedures, between theradio network and the mobile phones. This is further more a positioningusing measurement of radio signals from multiple control signaltransmitters.

According to an embodiment of the present invention a network isdisclosed including an on-board device in a vehicle, a road user server,or traffic server system, managing the information, including othertraffic related information, and an emergency centre. Such trafficrelated information is current situation of traffic jam, bad weather,construction work etc. There is also a network connection between theon-board device and the traffic server. This network is a wide areacoverage network typically a cellular network.

An object of the present invention is to enhance message and/orinformation sent or presented to an emergency centre with informationrelating to the number of persons that are involved in an accident, andif possibly who they are. Reporting the number of persons that areestimated to be in the vehicle is done either in advance at a reporttriggering event, e.g. when starting the vehicle, opening a door etc, orwhen an accident triggered sensor is activated. The reporting can alsoinclude information received from sensors in seat belts, seats, doors,cameras etc.

Using Cellular Network and Passengers/Drivers Mobile (GSM/UMTS) Devises:

If a passengers and/or a driver of a vehicle have a mobile device each,e.g. user devices or mobile phones with GSM or UMTS capabilities, thesedevices is used to get an understanding of how many passengers are inthe vehicle and also who they are. Identifying who the passengers are isa matching procedure where mobile identification numbers are matchedwith user profiles. Mobile devices send reports to the networkconstantly in order for the network to have a decent understanding wherethe phones are. Thereby the network is able to page a mobile device whenthe mobile device has an incoming call. Such a reporting procedure,update signalling and location based on events, is initiated by forexample a user when he or she makes or receives a phone call. Otheractivities causing update signalling are data transmission from/tomobiles or a triggering event making an idle mobile report where themobile is. This triggering event, making an idle mobile report where itis, may be either getting into a new location area, finding a networkafter suffered from no coverage or by time scheduled updates.

A way to make the mobile device report that it is located in a vehicle,possibly also in an accident/emergency situation with the vehicle, is toemulate one of those events mentioned above. Considering that the mobiledevice is using the GSM or UMTS network and without involving the holderof the device or putting requirements on any specific software orhardware.

Two of these events mentioned above are triggered, for example by atransmitter sending control signals on a control channel. These twoevents are the new location area event and re-registration in thenetwork event.

To emulate new location area event, the transmitter will, with lowpower, transmit a control signal in the same way as ordinary basestations. For GSM this would be a BCCH with a BSIC and with a locationarea number different from the location area of the cell the mobilescurrently are camping in. Typically the location area should be uniqueand only used as ‘in-vehicle’ location area and possibly, depending onimplementation, also uniquely used for emergencies. In anotherembodiment of the present invention the unique number is the vehicleregistration number.

To emulate re-register in network, the transmitter shall interfere withthe radio network, either by interfering all GSM/UMTS frequencies, or byinterfering one-by-one the different operator's spectrum. Theinterference should be transmitted during a time interval as short aspossible, though long enough for the mobiles to lose the networkconnection so that the mobiles will try to re-connect.

The association between the passenger/driver and the vehicle, is done byletting the transmitter transmit a signal that later is associated, aswill be described in specific further below, with the vehicle in thenetwork.

The invocation of the transmitter to trigger each mobile phone toregister that it is in the car. If the new location area trigger isused, a pre-condition is that each operator has a channel, the BCCH inGSM, which is transmitting on in the BCCH Allocation List (BA list) sentto the mobile phone to measure on. The BA list is a list of frequenciessupported on neighbouring cells. This list is broadcast on the BCCH(Broadcast Control Channel) giving mobiles frequencies of the BCCHcarriers on neighbouring cells. The BA list is typically used by the MS(Mobile Station) in the cell selection and re-selection processes.

FIG. 2 is a signal diagram illustrating embodiments of the presentinvention. According to the figure:

1) A correlating procedure is initiated by a triggering event, e.g. asensor detecting collision, starting an engine, reaching a certainspeed, time frequent, door opening sensing sensor, pressure sensors inseat belts being activated etc.

2) An on-board device (O-B-D) is turned on and starts broadcastingmessages in the vehicle, the messages are bound to the area of thevehicle. This is achieved by broadcasting the messages with low powercreating a micro cell in a macro cell, wherein the micro cell is thevehicle. The messages are sent on a control channel and including aspecial location area identity, at least different from the one campingon, which is typically the macro cell area. The messages sent will beused as a marker in a neighbour report sent to a network controller, aBase station controller (BSC) or a radio network controller (RNC). InGSM the control channel is a Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH).

3) The O-B-D starts sending signals which either interfere parts of or awhole frequency spectrum, or the signals are transmitted as controlsignals, on a control channel, with low power.

4) User devices will now either when the interfering signal is turnedoff, or as soon as user devices detects control signals, send a messageto the network when re-attaching to the network. In GSM the messages aresent to the BSC.

The network controller detects that there is a special location areaidentity, e.g. BCCH/BSIC, in neighbour report(s) of user device(s) justregistering. The special location area identity is then reportedtogether with identifications of the user devices to a road user server(RUS). User devices are identified by their identity numbers, e.g. SIM,USIM, MSIN, MSISDN etc.

5) The O-B-D reports to the RUS that a triggering event was activated,the reports including information used at the MMC to correlate the userreports with the vehicle.

6) The RUS sends a message to the MMC requesting a list with informationon mobiles with matching identities. The message includes information,like the specific local area identity, that is to be used in a matchingprocedure.

7) The MMC correlates the message received from the RUS with storedreports of user devices and sends a list of identities of user devicesmatching the information sent in the message in step 6.

In an embodiment of the present invention the reporting is performed asa pre-defined mechanism and therefore step 6 is not needed then.

The RUS processes the information received from the MMC and from O-B-Dand composes lists of user identities, e.g. names, social securitynumbers, medical needs etc. Person profiles are pre-stored locally in adatabase or gathered from other distributed location in the network.

8) The O-B-D and/or a passenger using a user device, detecting acollision, make an emergency call to an emergency centre (E-C). The callincludes information to be used to identify the vehicle or the userdevice.

9) The E-C sends a request to the RUS requesting a list of identitiesassociated with the emergency call. This is a step to receiveinformation on all passengers in the vehicle involved in an accident.

10) The RUS returns a list with identities of user devices that are inan identified vehicle.

In another embodiment of the present invention the vehicle registrationnumber is used when reporting an accident. The vehicle is then locatedusing GPS or other locating mechanism. Then an association betweenpersons involved in an accident and the vehicle may be done by using adatabase mapping the emergency call information, the vehicle and userdevices who have reported to be in the accident area.

11) The E-C receives the list and sends information to proper hospitalIT systems, proper emergency vehicles or to nearby fire departments etc.

Hospital pools and other information pools are used for identifyingproper HITS, emergency vehicles etc. The pools are preferably real timeupdated.

In an embodiment of the invention the correlation procedure mentionedabove in 1)-7) is pre-configured and is initiated by an event, such asthe engine of the vehicle turned on, the vehicle starts moving or atpre-defined time intervals.

In another embodiment of the present invention the correlation procedurementioned above in steps 1)-7) is performed after a collision isdetected.

In yet another embodiment of the present invention the O-B-D includeseither a transmitter turned on and transmitting a BCCH, witch could be aBCCH with a special location area identity or different form the one inthe surrounding outdoor area, or a transmitter that is always on. Thetransmitter keeps transmitting a BCCH as long as the vehicle is moving,possibly also a certain time after that the vehicle stops.

In another embodiment of the present invention local reporting to theon-board device is performed. The on-board device first gatherinformation of how many there are in the vehicle and possibly alsoidentifying who the persons are. Then the gathered information is sentas a list to the TUS. There are a few alternatives how to do a gatheringof information. It can be performed using sensors in the car or usingpassenger's user devices. Communication with user devices whencollecting information is typically performed using a wirelessinterface, such as Wireless LAN, Bluetooth, or infra red light (IR).Possible access networks are GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000 etc.

Additionally, sensors and/or cameras are used for gathering additionalinformation. The sensors are used for detecting how many passengers arein the vehicle, e.g. sensors in seat belts, seats, doors etc. Possiblycombining sensors with other identification mechanism to find out whothe persons in the vehicle are, for example using identificationmechanisms like fingerprints, portable USB-memories, identificationcards etc. The cameras are used for taking snapshots at a collisionmoment and/or at different times, after a triggering event starting thecorrelation procedure. The pictures are analysed and/or stored in theon-board device. Snapshots and/or sensor information are sent asadditional information to the emergency centre.

In another embodiment of the present invention the O-B-D reportsgathered information to the RUS either when doing the emergency call oras part of a reporting procedure not triggered by at a time of theaccident.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an embodiment according to the presentinvention illustrating the information correlation method for creating arelation between mobiles and a vehicle. Upon detecting a triggeringevent a transmitter in the O-B-D starts broadcasting messages wirelesslyin the vehicle, the messages restricted to reach only in the vehicle.The messages include vehicle identity information or information whichcan be used together with other information to get a unique identity ofthe vehicle. The triggering event is for example a driver opening thedoor, starting the engine, triggering an emergency call etc. A secondsignal is then sent triggering all mobiles in the vehicle to transmitlocation transmit location area update messages, and/or re-register tonetwork messages, to a network node. The triggering signal is aninterference signal interfering parts or the whole spectrum, or a signalwith low power. Both broadcasted signal and triggered signal are sent oncontrol channel. At step 4 the mobiles sends reports to the networknode, the reports including broadcasted messages or information based onthe broadcast messages. The O-B-D also sends reports to a RUS, thereports including identity information that is to be used to correlatethe reports from the mobiles received from the network node with thevehicle. The RUS then performs a matching procedure to make a list ofmatching person profiles that are in the vehicle area. The profiles arestored internally in a database or distributed in the network.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an on-board device with wirelesscommunication capabilities in an embodiment according to the presentinvention. The O-B-D 10 includes a first transmitter 30 broadcasting lowpower messages on an existing control channel. The messages includevehicle 9 identity information or information which can be used togetherwith other information to get a unique identity of the vehicle 9. Themessages are transmitted using wireless equipment 34 and are limited tobe sent within the vehicle 9. A second transmitter 31 is used in theO-B-D 10 to send signals to all mobiles 11 within the vehicle 9. Thesignals are intended to interfere with parts of or the whole spectrumand thereby trigger all mobiles to send location area update messagesand/or re-register to network messages. The re-attaching/re-registeringmessages include broadcasted information and are sent to a MMC 7, suchas a BSC or an RNC, via a base station 8. The O-B-D 10 also includes aTransceiver 32 used to receive reports from for example sensors 20and/or cameras 21 and to send the reports to the RUS 6 as additionalinformation. The transceiver 32 is also used to make/send emergencycalls when receiving information from a collision detection sensor 20 orwhen triggered by a passenger. Reports and other user information aspersonal profiles, fingerprints of passengers etc. are stored in adatabase 33. The O-B-D 10 might send the profiles at collision detectionor dynamically when updated. User profiles might as well be sent to theRUS 6 upon registration when purchasing a mobile or filled in using aweb interface.

In another embodiment of the present invention the transceiver 32, inthe O-B-D 10, is controlled by an application 35. The application 35controls the transceiver 32 to send a request including identityinformation to the RUS 6. The RUS 6 returns a list with personidentities and/person profiles. The list is compared with storedinformation received from sensors 20 and/or cameras 21, and stored inthe O-B-D database 33. After check the O-B-D 10 sends a complete reportalong with the emergency call to the emergency centre 5.

Alternatively, passenger's user devices with short range wirelesscommunication capabilities are used for gathering information about thepersons in the vehicle. This typically, but not necessary, requires thatuser devices has a software doing reporting when requested by theon-board device. Reporting is, as a further alternative, based on usualdevice discovery signalling which sometimes is initiated automaticallywhen a device discovers a network.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a road user server in anembodiment according to the present invention. The server 6 including anapplication 60 that is activated to perform a correlation procedure forcreating a relation between mobiles and a vehicle of a wirelesscommunications network. The server further comprises a first transceiver61 that is used for receiving and/or sending reports to an on-boarddevice 10 in a vehicle 9. Vehicle identity information or informationwhich can be used together with other information to get a uniqueidentity of the vehicle is included in the reports exchanged between theserver 6 and the O-B-D 10. A second transceiver 62 is used forexchanging information with a mobility management controller 7.Correlation equipment 64 in the server is used for correlatinginformation received from the MMC 7 and the O-B-D 10 to relate whichmobiles 11 (user devices) are considered to be in a certain vehicle 9.The server 6 also includes matching equipment 65 for performing amatching procedure to relate mobile identity numbers to personidentities and/or person profiles. A database in the server 6 storeslists of person identities and/or person profiles along with vehicleidentities information. A third transceiver 63, in the server 6,exchanges lists with an emergency centre 5 upon request.

It will be obvious that the invention may be varied in a plurality ofways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from thescope of the invention. All such modifications as would be obvious toone skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope ofthe appended claims.

1. Method for creating a relation between mobiles and a vehicle of awireless communications network, the vehicle is equipped with anon-board device with wireless communication capability, the methodcomprising: broadcasting messages in the vehicle, to all mobiles withinthe vehicle, including vehicle identity information or information whichcan be used together with other information to get a unique identity ofthe vehicle; sending a signal triggering all mobiles in the vehicle totransmit at least one of location area update messages, or re-registerto network messages, to a mobility management controller; sending firstmeasurement reports from the mobiles to the mobility managementcontroller, the reports including broadcasted messages or informationbased on the broadcast messages; and sending second measurement reportsfrom the on-board device to a road user server, the reports includinginformation used to correlate the first measurement reports receivedfrom the mobility management controller with the vehicle.
 2. The methodof claim 1, where the broadcasting messages is triggered by one or moreof the following actions: a driver starting the vehicle, sensorsdetecting vehicle movement, activation of an emergency call, on-demandrequests from the road user server, sensors detecting door opening,sensors detecting an action associated with a seat belt, activation of atime period counter, or handover detection between macro cells.
 3. Themethod according to claim 1, where the sending second measurementreports from the on-board device is triggered by one or more of thefollowing actions: a user making an emergency call, a collisiondetection sensor is activated, or a user activating an emergencyprocedure.
 4. The method according claim 1, where the second measurementreports include additional information gathered from at least one ofsensors in one or more of seats of the vehicle, doors, or seat belts, orinformation from cameras.
 5. The method of claim 1, where the road userserver is responsible for performing: correlating information relatingto which mobiles are considered to be in a certain vehicle, based onmeasurement reports from mobiles and the on-board device; performing amatching procedure to relate mobile identity numbers to at least one ofperson identities or person profiles; storing a list that includes oneor more of person identities or person profiles along with vehicleidentity information; and forwarding the list to an emergency centerupon request.
 6. The method according to claim 1, where the on-boarddevice is capable of detecting an emergency situation and performingemergency calls, including vehicle identity information or informationwhich can be used together with other information to get a uniqueidentity of the vehicle, to an emergency center.
 7. The method of claim6, where the emergency center, upon receiving an emergency call, isresponsible for performing the following: sending a request to theroad-user server, the request including the vehicle identityinformation, or information which can be used together with otherinformation to get a unique identity of the vehicle, to the road-userserver for performing a matching procedure; receiving a response fromthe road-user server including a list that includes at least one ofperson identities or person profiles; and sending the retrieved personprofiles to one or more of proper hospitals, fire departments, oremergency vehicles.
 8. The method of claim 7, where the sending personprofiles to proper destination includes identifying in a pool databaseone or more of: a capacity of each hospital, fire department, oremergency vehicle at the moment; location of hospitals, firedepartments, or emergency vehicles in relation to the vehicle positionin a macro cell; or hospitals offering treatments for persons withspecific needs.
 9. The method of claim 1 where the mobility managementcontroller is part of an operator network.
 10. The method of claim 1where the triggering signal is adapted to perform one or more of thefollowing: interfering an entire or parts of a frequency spectrum and bythis way triggering all mobiles in the vehicle to perform at least oneof location update or re-registration when re-attaching to the network,or transmitting control signals with low power, using existing controlchannels, triggering all mobiles to perform a new location arearegistration.
 11. The method of claim 10 where the triggering of allmobiles in the vehicle is used to trigger mobiles in Idle Mode as well.12. A device, intended to be used on-board a vehicle, where the deviceis equipped with wireless communication capability used to access andcommunicate with a wireless communications network, the devicecomprising: a first transmitter used for broadcasting messages,including vehicle identity information or information which can be usedtogether with other information to get a unique identity of the vehicle,the messages limited to be sent within the vehicle; a second transmitterused to send signals to all mobiles within the vehicle triggering allmobiles to send at least one of location area update messages orre-register to network messages, including broadcasted information, to amobility management controller; a transceiver used to send measurementreports to a road user server, the reports including information to beused by the road user server in a correlating procedure performed fordetermining all mobiles within the vehicle.
 13. The device of claim 12,where the first transmitter is triggered by one or more of the followingactions: a driver starting the vehicle, sensors detecting vehiclemovement, activation of an emergency call, on-demand requests from theroad user server, sensors detecting a door opening, sensors detecting anaction relating to a seat belt, activation of a time period counter, orhandover detection between macro cells.
 14. The device of claim 12,where the transceiver is triggered to send measurement reports upon oneor more of the following actions: a user making an emergency call, acollision detection sensor is activated, or a user activating anemergency procedure.
 15. The device of claim 12, where the transceiverreceives additional information from sensors in one or more of vehicleseats, doors, or seat belts or from cameras, the additional informationis to be included in the measurement reports sent to the road userserver.
 16. The device of claim 12, where the device is capable ofdetecting an emergency situation and performing emergency calls,including vehicle identity information or information which can be usedtogether with other information to get a unique identity of the vehicle,to an emergency center.
 17. The device of claim 15, where thetransceiver is run by an application controlling the transceiver toperform: sending a request to the road-user server, the requestincluding the vehicle identity information, or information which can beused together with other information to get a unique identity of thevehicle, to the road-user server for performing a matching procedure;receiving a response from the road-user server including a list thatincludes at least one of person identities or person profiles; comparingthe received list with stored additional information received from atleast one of the sensors or the cameras; and sending all information toan emergency center.
 18. A server in a wireless communications network,the server including an application run to perform a correlationprocedure for creating a relation between mobiles and a vehicle of awireless communications network, the server comprising: a firsttransceiver for receiving reports from an on-board device in thevehicle, the reports including a vehicle identity information orinformation which can be used together with other information to get aunique identity of the vehicle; a second transceiver for exchanginginformation with a mobility management controller; correlation equipmentfor correlating information received from the mobility managementcontroller and the on-board device to relate which mobiles areconsidered to be in a certain vehicle; matching equipment for performinga matching procedure to relate mobile identity numbers to personidentities and/or person profiles; a database for storing lists of atleast one of person identities or person profiles along with vehicleidentities information; and a third transceiver for exchanging the listswith an emergency center upon request.